


we've all got battle scars

by rikubraveheart



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Dream Eater Riku, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Self-Esteem Issues, just an excuse to write sora loving riku, two boys loving each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-12 14:39:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18012767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rikubraveheart/pseuds/rikubraveheart
Summary: Sora finds out something his boyfriend had been hiding from him and takes it upon himself to thank Riku for every time he's saved him.





	we've all got battle scars

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this sitting on my wips for months and with the rise of dream eater riku art I thought it was the perfect moment to finish it

It took Sora some time to realize it, but he soon noticed Riku never changed his shirt in front of him. He attributed it to shyness at first, not giving it much thought. But as time passed, and the more he thought about it, the less sense it made. They had changed in front of each other for years. If it had never been a problem before, so why was it now?

In the end, he gave in on his curiosity. He decided for a direct approach and confronted Riku about it. He didn't get the answer he expected, he didn't even get a real answer.

“You're just imagining things,” shrugged it off the other boy.

Sora knew he was definitely not imagining things. During the following days, he kept nagging Riku about it. He got similar responses every time, just vague explanations or excuses. In the end, desperate, he decided to talk to Kairi about it.

“Maybe it's because you're dating now?” suggested the princess.

“Uh?” said confused Sora.

“It could be because of that,” she explained. “He had never had a problem changing in front of you before, but that was before you were dating. He could just be embarrassed.”

Sora thought about it for a moment and realized that she was probably right. It made him feel relieved, knowing he hadn't really done anything wrong. But at the same time, he wished Riku had a little more confidence in him. They had been dating long enough for him to tell him these things instead of shrugging him off. Sora wouldn't have made fun of him for it.

Even so, he decided he couldn't really blame his boyfriend for being embarrassed. He hadn't thought about how dating could change simple things like that, but it was true it had a different undertone. He blushed upon that thought and wondered if he should be more reserved himself.

Riku seemed relieved that Sora's nagging was over and Sora himself felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He didn't give the issue more than a passing thought from time to time, and life continued as if nothing had ever worried him.

Until one day he accidentally walked in on Riku changing. If someone had asked Sora, they wouldn't believe it had been an accident. But Sora would never betray Riku's confidence like that. Even though he had never explicitly told him he was uncomfortable changing in front of Sora, his attitude and Sora's talk with Kairi left that pretty clear.

What he saw though, made him think maybe Riku wasn't uncomfortable at all and he was actually just trying to hide something from him.

“Sora!” exclaimed the older boy, dressing up rapidly.

“Sorry!” he apologized. 

“Don't you know it's polite to knock before entering a room?” scolded him his boyfriend.

“I thought the room was empty!” he excused himself. “But don't think I didn't see that.”

Riku tried to talk, but he was cut off by Sora before having the opportunity to. “And don't try to use any excuses!” he said. “What was that?”

The other boy sat on the edge on the bed and sighed. He seemed to think for a moment, trying to decide on what to tell his boyfriend.

“It was... my dream eater mark,” he confessed.

“You... have one?” asked Sora confused.

“Yes, it's kind of faded, but I do,” he explained. “I didn't want you to see because I knew you'd feel guilty.”

Riku wasn't wrong. Sora  _was_ feeling extremely guilty at that moment. It was bad enough Riku had become his dream eater and had put his life in danger for him, but now he also had a mark to be constantly reminded of that fact.

Sora sat beside Riku on the bed.

“Can I...” he started, hesitantly. “Can I see it?”

Riku seemed taken aback for a second. but he turned around so his back would be facing Sora and started to peel off his shirt. Sora had imagined the mark to look like a tattoo, or like the ones he had seen on his other dream eaters, but it looked more like a scar. The skin marked by the symbol was white and coarse. He touched it lightly with his fingers and realized that it did feel like scar tissue. Riku flinched under his touch.

“Has it always looked like this?” he asked. 

Riku nodded. “I guess it doesn't work quite the same way on actual dream eaters than on humans.”

“I... have no words,” Sora admitted,

“You don't have to say anything,” answered the other boy. “I don't regret it one bit.”

With Riku still not facing him, Sora did something out of pure impulse. He brought his lips to Riku's back and kissed the dream eater mark. Riku flinched once again and let out a surprised sound. Sora didn't let that stop him and kept running his lips over Riku's skin, making sure to kiss every patch of marked skin. He kissed him for every time he had protected him, for every time he had helped him without knowing it.

“Thank you,” he told him, lips still against Riku's back. “For everything.”

Sora then noticed the scar on Riku's side. It was not the first time he saw that one, but it still hurt to see it after all this time. The scene still appeared on Sora's nightmares, the image of one of Xemnas' Ethereal Blades against Riku's side burnt on the back of his mind forever.

“This is from our fight with Xemnas, isn't it?”

Riku, incapable of talking, could only nod. This time, when Sora kissed his scar, it didn't come as a surprise. Still, he could not help but flinch again. At this point, Riku's hands had started to shake. He took a deep breath and turned to face Sora directly meeting his eyes.

Sora had a slight smile on his face. “Close your eyes,” he told Riku.

The older boy did as asked, and soon felt Sora's hands on his face. He felt Sora's hands cupping his face, and the next thing he knew Sora was kissing the eyelids of his closed eyes. Instead of stopping after that, Sora started to leave butterfly kisses all around Riku's face, which made Riku smile. Every time he kissed his face, he whispered an  _'I love you'_ to him.

When Sora's lips finally left Riku's face, he opened his eyes.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“For the year you spent without your sight,” he explained. “And because I love you.”

Sora's hands were still cupping his face. Riku took advantage of that and brought their lips together. The kiss was light, and both were still nervous from Sora's previous actions, so they separated quickly.

“I love you too,” said Riku.

They both had known they loved each other for a long time, but it was the first time they said it out loud. It made it more real and less like a fantasy Riku was just imagining.

“I feel like I don't thank you enough for all you've done for me,” said Sora again.

It was the second time in a few minutes Sora thanked him, and that's how Riku knew he was feeling unnecessarily guilty. Riku didn't want Sora to feel responsible for his decisions, especially not for his choice of protecting him.

“You don't need to,” he said. “Because you've much more for me than I've ever done for you, even if you don't realize.”

That was not true, but before Sora could complain Riku shut him up with a kiss. It usually was an effective method to get his boyfriend to shut up, but Sora's stubbornness seemed to be extremely present that day.

“So not true,” he said.

Riku chuckled. “We're really not going to agree on this one.”

“Yep, I'm not giving up,” smiled Sora.

They still had their foreheads joined together from the previous kiss. Sora's eyes revealed his determination to make Riku realize his worth, a quest he had been on for years and years. So far, he hadn't succeeded.

“I just wish you could see yourself with my eyes,” he told him. “Or with anyone else's eyes, for the matter.”

Riku shook his head and didn't say anything. His mind still hadn't wrapped up around the concept that people had  _actually_ forgiven him for his teenage self's actions. Seeing himself on his Replica during the Keyblade War hadn't helped to those thoughts.

Sora hugged him close. “Until you learn to love yourself, I'll be here to do it for you,” he said.

And Riku would do the same for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow my Twitter @rikubraveheart for any writing updates!


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